Sara Duterte: Pier 88 product of cooperation between, private sector, LGU, Church

Topline Group officials lead the groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, March 22, of Pier 88 Port Development in Barangay Poblacion in Liloan town. | Delta Dyrecka Letigio

LILOAN, CEBU, Philippines — Cooperation between three sectors of the community has resulted in a port project, that can improve the standard of life and quality of living of the residents of Liloan town in northern Cebu.

This is how Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio described Pier 88, the P1 billion port project, aimed at easing the traffic congestion of Metro Cebu and connecting Liloan by port to Mactan Island and Cebu City.

“Pier 88 is an example of how a town can progress if the private sector, the local government unit (LGU), and the Church will help together to improve the quality of life of the residents,” said Duterte-Carpio during a press briefing on March 22 in Liloan town during the groundbreaking of the Pier 88 project.

Read more: New P1B Liloan port to provide traffic-free trips to Cebu City, Mactan

“It’s noteworthy that everyone is coming together to think of the standard of life and quality of living of the people, residents of Liloan,” said Duterte-Carpio.

The Pier 88 is developed by a private developer, Topline group, on a 1 hectare property in Barangay Poblacion leased from the Archdiocese of Cebu. The road network to the port will be widened and developed by the LGU.

Liloan Mayor Christina Garcia Frasco said that the Pier 88 would open more doors for investment and ease the traffic in Liloan’s sole highways.

She said that she had been coordinating with the Department of Works and Public Highways (DPWH) on the road widening plans in Liloan but even this might take time.

The Pier 88 is expected to be open to the riding public by the end of 2019 or start of 2020, and it is expected to ease the inland traffic with the three ferries carrying 300 passengers at a time.

The ferries will also take 10 trips a day in two routes, Liloan-Mactan docking at the Mactan Wharf near the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) and Liloan-Cebu City docking at Pier 3 in the Cebu City port.

Frasco said she was hoping that with the newest development in Liloan’s connectivity around the metro, it would boost both investments and tourism.

“Per survey there are 10,000 people working in MEPZ from Liloan, Compostela, and Danao. This development will benefit them most,” said Frasco. /dbs